kaneda's top 10 of 2010

Unlike my fellow bloggers, and while i agree that 2010 wasn´t the beat all end all year for music, still there were some pretty amazing album releases. Here´s my top-10 for 2010:

10. Brandt Brauer Frick, You Make Me Real

Released: December, Germany

Ambient techno with a huge organic feel to it and a high emphasis on piano, jagged percussion , weird rhythmic structures and improvisation.

9. Gonjasufi, A Sufi And A Killer

Released: March, US

Coming straight from the all-mighty "Warp Records" and produced by the magic fingers of "The Gaslamp Killer", Gonjasufi´s first album took the music world by storm with his enormous mix of styles and flavours all wrapped up on a "Flying Lotus" kind of musical envelope while being able to sound entirely unique. Truly wonderfull music.

8. Panopticon, On The Subject Of Mortality

Released: November, US

The brightest of all the "usbm" records that came out in 2010 (and there were some stellar ones), the solo moniker of Austin Lundr continues to prove that when it comes to convey absolutely beautiful melodies (the "bluegrass" moments in here, nham!) with the feeling of absolute despair, he is one of the best. Although the lo-fi production may turn some heads, do not stray away from this record. To give a redundant representation of Panopticon´s sound, think Wolves In The Throne Room by the way of Katatonia and Alcest.

7. The NULLL Collective, De Monstris

Released: June, Belgium/US

Dark opressive spacey atmosphere, drum tempos that flow between a snail like pace to a cybergrind drum-machine, vocals that came from the darkest pits of hell buried between a wall of sound. The NULLL Collective debut album "De Montris" throws the "Doom" genre to another new level of perception. This album´s truly a sensorial experience, better listened at night gazing into the blackness of the space.

6. Bardo Pond, Bardo Pond

Released: December, US

I love Bardo Pond, and i love their new album. It´s nice to see them kinda putting all their monstrous reverb and psychadelic vein a little bit aside thus making all their sound more "clear". Still, "Cracker Wrist" is a model when it comes to true "sludge" and standouts like"The Stars Behind" and "Sleeping" figure between the most beautiful tracks that i heard from 2010.

5. Pan Galactic Straw Boss, Reverberator

Release: November, US

A very young three piece from Norfolk "PGSB" play a blend of post-rock and noise and they play it with such maturity, cohesiveness and passion that seem that they´ve been doing this for years. I may seem overly enthusiastic about these guys, but they are truly amazing and, if they continue to sound like this, the time for them to be one of the driving forces of american post-rock is not too far ahead.

4. Deathspell Omega, Paracletus

Release: November, France

The much awaited final chapter of the "metaphysical" trilogy focusing on the relatioship of Man with God and The Devil is chaotic, angular, dark and ugly as it always is with them, but on "Paracletus" DsO pushed, just a little bit, back on the impenetrable chaos of drums and never-ending riffage, giving some time for the listener to breathe. The result is a brilliant album, one more from this prophets of hell.

3. Chelsea Wolfe, Apokalypsis

Release: December, US

OH MY GOD, this record! "Apokalypsis" is one of two albums released in 2010 by Chelsea Wolfe (the other being "The Grime And The Glow") and while i enjoy the former, i end up liking "Apokalypsis" a little bit more because of it´s amazing production, i mean this thing growls with menace, relishes on the thickness of the low end and it all sounds so crisp, that when i realize that this album comes from someone who released her two first albums this year, my mind boggles.

Musically she plays dark-folk, think Marissa Nadler with the ferocity of Rose Kemp permeated with a menacing black-metal atmosphere.

As a side note, her cover of Burzum´s "Black Spell Of Destruction" is nothing short of amazing!

2. Brian Mcbride, The Effective Disconnect

Release: October, US

Being one of the halfs of ambient/drone heavywights "Stars Of The Lid" Brian Mcbride crafted a beautiful, delicate, soul-reaching album that is sure to put anyone on a daydreaming state. Was there anything else to expect apart from absolute magnificence? I think not.

1. A Forest Of Stars, Opportunistic Thieves of Sping

Release: June, UK

I already posted this album in here and at the time i stated that it was my favourite album of 2010. My feelings still haven´t changed regarding this album, it is an absolute masterpiece and everyone should listen to this. It´s as simple as that.